by Nate Ryan, USA TODAY Sports

by Nate Ryan, USA TODAY Sports

Given the marathon nature of a 36-race season that starts shortly after Valentine's Day and ends days before Thanksgiving, facts easily get forgotten in the Sprint Cup Series.

The half-life of a NASCAR controversy generally is a few days. And because drivers and teams can swing from victory lane to last place in the span of a week, it's sometimes challenging to remember even the most indelible of moments.

Did Brad Keselowski break his ankle in his breakout season or his championship campaign? In which year did Kevin Harvick say Jimmie Johnson kept a golden horseshoe stored in an area that seems anatomically impossible? When did Robby Gordon hurl that helmet at Michael Waltrip's car and then refer to him as a four-letter word on national TV?

It's even tougher to recall events that happen during the sport's brief hibernation in December. But it's also a time frame that can serve as a critical bellwether for the upcoming season. Consider that crew chief changes and personnel moves often occur when the fewest number of eyeballs are monitoring Twitter.

Danica Patrick and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. aside, USA TODAY Sports' Nate Ryan provides nuggets you might have missed but you might find hard to overlook by the season finale:

1. New brain trust for 'five-time'

Jimmie Johnson and Chad Knaus will begin their 12th consecutive season together, but there's been significant overhauling on the No. 48 Chevrolet.

Longtime engineer Greg Ives, who joined the team for the first of Johnson's five championship seasons, has moved to JR Motorsports as the crew chief for Regan Smith. Cody Clemmons, the team's other engineer, also has left, which means Knaus will have two new henchman crunching numbers and running simulations in one of the most critical roles for finding speed - and during a year in which the 2013 car will require completely new setups everywhere.

Knaus' new engineers are Marius Hauser and Dave Elenz (who moved over from Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s No. 88). The team still will have access to Ives through JR Motorsports' affiliations with Hendrick Motorsports, but this could test the strength of Johnson's and Knaus' bonds.

2. Edwards goes old-school

In the brief periods during his career when he has been separated from crew chief Bob Osborne, Carl Edwards has been lost.

Team owner Jack Roush split them up during a middling 2006 season, and Edwards missed the Chase for the Sprint Cup and didn't win again until being reunited with Osborne for '07. Edwards notched 15 victories and two runner-up points finishes in the next five seasons before Osborne, citing health reasons, left midway through last season, which again ended without a victory or a Chase berth for the No. 99 Ford.

There is no reunion for 2013, though. Edwards will be under the guidance of veteran Jimmy Fennig, who has enjoyed great success through a diverse lineup of Matt Kenseth, Kurt Busch and Mark Martin. Fennig's gruff, no-nonsense style makes him a significant departure from Osborne, a Penn State engineering graduate whose egghead approach was a nice complement to Edwards' ebullient personality.

3. Gordon, Bowyer and a big boat

Perhaps the biggest lingering question from last season was whether the feud between Clint Bowyer and Jeff Gordon had ended. After being wrecked intentionally by Gordon at Phoenix International Raceway, Bowyer was reticent to discuss his animosity for the four-time champion, but he intimated several times that revenge was being planned.

That was before their New Year's Eve chance meeting on P. Diddy's $72 million yacht. Yes, you read that correctly. This isn't an accidental conflation of NASCAR and an East Coast-West Coast rap ditty. Gordon and Bowyer vacationed on St. Barts, and they somehow ended up at what Gordon called "the party of the year." And a conversation took place, though it was difficult to glean any details of a possible resolution.

"Yeah, we held hands and walked on the boat, discussed the past year and enjoyed ourselves throughout the whole vacation," Bowyer said sarcastically during preseason testing. "That was the one person that I definitely wanted to vacation with. Yes. I could not wait to get there for that very reason. Is that what you wanted me to say?"

Said Gordon with a coy smile: "We talked. I had a great New Year's."

4. Up to snuff at Joe Gibbs Racing

Three consecutive mechanical problems for Kyle Busch. A faulty master control switch at Martinsville Speedway for Denny Hamlin. Fuel miscues and strategy misfires.

Though Joe Gibbs Racing scored victories with all three of its Toyotas last year for the first time in three seasons, the success was overshadowed by a preponderance of failures that kept Busch out of the Chase for the Sprint Cup and cost Hamlin a shot at the championship. That made quality control a focus during the offseason.

"We're in a sport where every person who puts a wrench on that car is responsible for your performance," Hamlin said. "One loose bolt can completely diminish championship chances, and 36 races can come down to one bolt not being a half-turn tight enough. We're going to figure out how to make our cars basically FAA-certified. Whatever we have to do, whether it's hire someone, a group, a team. I think Gibbs is going to do whatever it takes. â?¦ He's got the fast cars, good drivers. It's just that one thing that's been keeping him from multiple championships over the last five years."

It could be ameliorated by the arrival of Matt Kenseth, who didn't suffer such mistakes at Roush Fenway Racing without quietly exerting his influence to ensure they weren't repeated.

5. Putting fans first

Attendance again lagged in 2012, so racetracks are getting aggressive with finding ways to lure fans who were priced out in recent years by the economic downturn or alienated by the changes to NASCAR in the 21st century.

After culling opinions from fan councils that were formed during the economic downturn, Texas Motor Speedway announced more than a dozen changes to enhance the fan experience, including providing price breaks on tickets, banning smoking in the grandstands and offering refunds on rain postponements. Bristol Motor Speedway is giving away 10 Mustangs to fans attending its March 17 race.

With NASCAR continuing to push the importance of having a digital presence, many tracks also are working on improving their Wi-Fi access.

This story is part of USA TODAY Sports 56-page NASCAR preview on newsstands now. The edition, which has five collectible covers, can be ordered by calling 800-872-0001 or visiting www.mysportsweekly.com/specialeditions.